Sustainability

The Singhmar Centre for Learning is planned to be a LEED Silver-certified building. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a third party rating system licensed by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). The certification process evaluates green building design and construction, and strives to balance environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well-being, community development, and the economics of building construction and operation.

Learn about important LEED highlights under six categories and find out how the Singhmar Centre for Learning demonstrates NorQuest College’s commitment to green building and sustainability.

Sustainable site development

Encourages site selection, planning, landscaping, and design strategies that use land more effectively to minimize construction and operational impacts by:

• Redeveloping and remediating the site to minimize unnecessary destruction to local ecology and reduce urban sprawl
• Selecting a site that encourages sustainable modes of transportation
• Site is in close proximity to housing, public transportation, and major amenities
• Site promotes bicycle transportation with secured bicycle storage and access to change rooms and showers
• Reducing heat absorption (heat island effect) by locating vehicle parking underground and providing a reflective roof surface
• Minimizing light pollution by reducing exterior surface lighting

Water efficiency

Encourages strategies that reduce potable water used for landscape irrigation and building operation to minimize the burden on municipal water supply and wastewater system by:

• Decreasing potable water use with low flow plumbing fixtures
• Collecting rainwater from the roof in a cistern to irrigate site landscaping
• Selecting adaptive and drought tolerant plants that require less water

Energy and atmosphere

Reduces depletion of non-renewable energy resources and related environmental impacts by:

• Utilizing “enhanced” building commissioning to verify the functional performance of building systems to optimize system performance, energy efficiency, and equipment longevity
• Obtaining energy performance through optimal design of mechanical, electrical, and building envelope systems
  • Mechanical system uses high efficiency (95%) boilers which are shared with an existing building
  • Electrical system uses a combination of LED and high efficiency fluorescent lighting, as well as occupancy and daylight sensors
  • Building envelope uses triple pane, low-e-coated, argon-filled, insulated glazing units
• Obtaining energy savings (by cost) of more than 30% through energy simulations
• Constructing a double facade system (second floor, west elevation) that uses passive solar heating in the winter, and passive cooling in the summer

Materials and resources

Encourages design strategies that reduce and reuse material resources, reduce construction waste, and utilize building materials that are environmentally preferable by:

• Ensuring recycling facilities are provided on campus
• Reducing construction waste by 85% through recycling and diverting from landfill

Indoor environmental quality

Encourages strategies to improve the indoor environmental quality for workers and occupants resulting in less illness and improved productivity by:

• Including a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) to provide increased outdoor air for optimal indoor air quality
• Including displacement ventilation which supplies fresh air at the floor level, lifting pollutants away from the breathing zone
• Selecting products that emit low levels of volatile organic compounds
• Including CO2 sensors to ensure occupants receive optimal indoor air quality
• Ensuring mechanical systems and building materials were protected from dust and moisture during construction

Innovation and design process

Recognizes projects with innovative building features and sustainable building knowledge by:

• Implementing a green cleaning program that uses least-toxic cleaning products and emphasizes training on the use of hazardous products
• Offering a green building education program to educate the community about green building benefits